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sodomy

[sod-uh-mee]

noun

anal or oral copulation with a member of the opposite sex.
copulation with a member of the same sex.
bestiality(def 4).

Origin of sodomy

1250–1300; Middle English sodomie < Old French. See Sodom, -y3
Related formssod·o·mit·i·cal [sod-uh-mit-i-kuh l] /ˌsɒd əˈmɪt ɪ kəl/, sod·o·mit·ic, adjectivesod·o·mit·i·cal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for sodomitical

sodomy

noun

anal intercourse committed by a man with another man or a womanCompare buggery

Word Origin for sodomy

C13: via Old French sodomie from Latin (Vulgate) Sodoma Sodom
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for sodomitical

sodomy

n.

c.1300, "unnatural sexual relations," such as those imputed to the inhabitants of Biblical Sodom, especially between persons of the same sex but also with beasts, from Old French sodomie, from Late Latin peccatum Sodomiticum "anal sex," literally "the sin of Sodom," from Latin Sodoma. In Middle English also synne Sodomyke (early 14c.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
sodomitical in Medicine

sodomy

[sŏd′ə-mē]

n.

Anal copulation of one male with another.
Anal or oral copulation with a member of the opposite sex.
Copulation with an animal.
Related formssod′om•ite′ (-mīt′) n.sod′om•ize′ (-mīz′) v.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
sodomitical in Culture

sodomy

[(sod-uh-mee)]

Sexual intercourse that is not the union of the genital organs of a man and a woman. The term is most frequently applied to anal intercourse between two men or to sexual relations between people and animals. (See pederast.)

Note

According to the Bible (see also Bible), God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for unacceptable sexual practices, apparently including anal intercourse between men. Sodomy takes its name from the city of Sodom.

Note

Many governments have laws against sodomy. These laws are difficult to enforce, however, and many people believe they violate personal privacy.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.